At the fifth International Biochemistry of Exercise Congress in 1982, the fatigue is defined that: the body's physiological processes can not maintain its function at a certain degree or the organs can not maintain its predetermined exercise intensity.
Fatigue is classified as central nervous system fatigue, nerve-muscle joint fatigue and peripheral fatigue of the limbs. Fatigue is a comprehensive physiological process involving many physiological and biochemical factors, and it's a normal physiological phenomenon inevitably occurring at a certain stage of the mental activity or physical activity of the body. It marks a temporary decline of the original work ability of the body, and may be an indication indicating the body develops to an injury status.
At present people are paying more attention to the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). CFS is a group of syndrome, which takes long-term durable fatigue as prominent manifestation, accompanying with non-specific manifestations of low fever, headache, sore throat, muscle and joint pain, inattention, memory decline, sleep disorders, depression and the like, generally nothing abnormal is detected in physical examination and routine examination (Holmes G O, Kaplan J E, Gantz N M, et al. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Working Case Definition. Ann Intern Med, 1988, 108(3): 387-389; Fukuda K, Straus S E, Hickie I, et al. The Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Comprehensive Approach to Definition and Study. Ann Intern Med, 1994, 121(12): 953-959). CFS is more likely to happen in people at the age group of 20-50 years old, and more common in women. CFS significantly affects work and living of a subject and gains great concern in the medical field.
There are many causes which may lead to fatigue, such as working environment, diet habit and lifestyle, especially the diseases, which may bring to a subject mental stress, physical exertion, and lowered resistance in various functions of the body; as well as the physical exertion caused by drugs, which is easy to lead to fatigue. For example, the symptom of fatigue is normally seen in a cancer or mental patient who is subjected to a treatment.
Currently, the widely used methods of relieving fatigue adjust the body function by sleep and recuperation etc. On the other hand, the body function can be improved by recuperating with external materials. However, there is no anti-fatigue medicament or food with significant effect available in the current market.
Lycium chinense, which is ripe fruit of a deciduous small shrub of Lycium plants in Solanaceae family, is a traditional Chinese herb medicine having effects of strengthening with tonics, replenishing vital essence, dispelling rheumatism, invigorating Yang, strengthening muscles and bones etc. It is recorded in an ancient Chinese medical book named Dietetic Materia Medica that, ripe fruits of Lycium chinense have the functions of “strengthening muscles to endure hard work, dispelling rheumatism, nourishing and benefiting muscles and bones, benefiting human body, and removing asthenic disease”. Research of modern pharmacology proves that, the active ingredient of Lycium chinense fruits is lycium barbarum polysaccharide which has the functions of reducing the level of blood sugar and blood fat, improving immunity, antioxidation and anti-fatigue etc. At present, there are literatures reporting the anti-fatigue effect of Lycium chinense fruits as follows:
LUO Qiong et al. reports the influence of lycium barbarum polysaccharide on the anti-fatigue effect of mice, experiments show that lycium barbarum polysaccharide is the main ingredient for anti-fatigue effect of Lycium chinense fruits (LUO Qiong, YAN Jun and ZHANG Shenghua. Influence of Lycium Barbarum Polysaccharide on the Anti-fatigue Effect for Mice. Journal of Hubei Medical University, 1999, No. 4); WANG Yanwu et al. reports that lycium barbarum polysaccharide has anti-fatigue effect (WANG Yanwu, FU Weizhong, TAN Zongyan et al. Experimental Research on Anti-fatigue Effect of Lycium Barbarum Polysaccharide. China Tropical Medicine, 2006, No. 8, August 2006,(6):8); PAN Jingyi et al. reports that Lycium chinense fruits has functions of anti-fatigue, improving exercise tolerance and immunity for mice (Experimental Research on Anti-fatigue and Improving Immunity Effects of Lycium chinense Fruits, Shanghai Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2003, Vol. 15, No. 8).
Protopanoxadiol is aglycon of ginsenoside diol set, including 20(S)-protopanoxadiol and 20(R)-protopanoxadiol, which are enantiomers to each other and are represented by the following formulas.

20(S)-protopanoxadiol, which does not occur naturally, is a metabolite of ginsenoside in the body. Chinese Patent Application No. CN200610027507.1 discloses the anti-depression activity of 20(S)-protopanoxadiol; Chinese Patent Application No. CN200610027508.6 discloses the anti-intestinal cancer activity of 20(S)-protopanoxadiol; Chinese Patent Application No. CN200610131959.4 discloses novel use of ginsenoside Rh2 for anti-fatigue; Chinese Patent Application No. CN200610017063.3 discloses anti-fatigue effect of a composition comprising ginseng, coffee and tea. The single use of 20(S)-protopanoxadiol for anti-fatigue has not been reported yet.
Although lycium barbarum polysaccharide has a certain anti-fatigue effect, such effect needs to be improved. Until now, there is no patent or literature reporting using 20(S)-protopanoxadiol and lycium barbarum polysaccharide for anti-fatigue.